At the suggestion of a stone wall builder friend – Gavin Dench – who is also a keen enthusiast for wood fired pots – I eventually decided to replace a rather dilapidated wire fence near the house with a stone wall built from stones collected from this property. If I had known at commencement what sort of task it turned out to be I probably would not have started. Having built it now, I have absolutely no regrets and it has become an increasing pleasure as time goes on and it grows into the landscape.
The comments (or lack of them) have been interesting and attest to the way the wall has so quickly become a part of the landscape. Two people have asked if I have done a whole lot of clearing to reveal the old wall, others have simply made no comment, or asked how long it had been there because they had not noticed it before.
Its stats are interesting and would have frightened me before it was started. It is 50 metres long and at 2.7 tonnes per cubic metre of stone it weighs around 135 tonnes. Each of those tonnes was probably lifted by me, Gavin or Simon (the other stone man who worked on the project) at least three times if not more. This included picking them out of the piles they had been put in by previous occupants of the land. Then stacking them into the bucket of the front end loader which dumped them on the ground near where they would be used. They were then lifted into place and often moved to another, sometimes discarded or put somewhere else for a better fit. Often a recalcitrant stone would be tried out in as many as half a dozen places before being completely abandoned but having to be loaded again into the bucket for a return to a stone pile. I’d guess that each stone was lifted at least four times. This made the combined human lifting at around 500 tonnes over the six weeks that we worked when it wasn’t too wet.
The stones were used with their length going in towards the centre of the wall and usually angling downwards for strength. The wall has a layer on each side which slope towards each other. This left a cavity in the centre which gradually narrowed towards the top. The wall is about a metre wide at the bottom and 70 cm at the top. The cavity is filled initially with other less useful rocks and the whole lot is tied together with (hand) smashed and wedged splinters which grip and wedge each side together. The aim was to have no stones, apart from those at the very top, able to be pulled out once the wall was built.
I should also mention that some of the base rocks are up to half a tonne each and were manoeuvred into place by hand and lever. The requirements for shape changed as the wall progressed from ‘base stones’ to ‘building stones’ to ‘capping stones’ for the top layer. The wall sits in a 15cm trench to locate it with a foundation in the ground. I calculate that there are about 2500 stones in that wall ranging in size from 500kgs down to 1kg. The main architects of this monument are Gavin Dench (04 387 9955) and Simon Fern (04 977 1955) and they seem keen to continue building walls with other clients in other parts of the country…
I ashamed to say this is the first time to your blog and website. What a pleasure to wonder through the pages and various posts. The site reminds me of your pottery and indeed your work. Well designed, easy to navigate with discoveries with every click. It’s a beautiful site and I will certainly be following your blog from now on.
Keep it up mate.
Cheers
Sam
Beautiful wall, Paul!
Wow… That is amazing..! I’d heard about the wall but had a totally different picture in my head. It’s lovely and plump and curvy but still neat and with some beautiful symmetry. The stats are interesting (and scary)… Also, much bigger, more of it, than I expected…
50 m of stone wall in 6 weeks? Not bad, not bad at all. I did a similar project around my house a few years ago and it took me 2 years to finish it. There was only me and my wife, and no, I wasn’t stoned..LOL.
Wonderful wall, Paul. How is your back? And a great website!
Can we be added to your stats post visit? I noticed the beautiful wall immediately as we parked, yet the sign that led us from the road said pottery, so we followed the pottery to the show room, storeroom, studio, kilns and woodpiles, already offering a feast for the eyes. While we admired your work and your trees, you kindly shared more of your world, your passion for our earth, justice, empathy and peace. While you led us to your paintings, the beautiful stone wall was stil in the corner of my eye, yet we dove into other great conversation about Quakers and activists and growing garlic and I had not a chance to mention the wall when we were so quickly moving through your world of many accomplishments and the few threads of common interests that seemed to lead us down your brick path. But yes, the wall is a stunning masterpiece, another creation of wonder that seems to flow from every corner of your property. Add us to your stats, we noticed it immediately!
Two Americans stopping by after a hike, to see the pottery studio.
A very pleasing visit to your website and blog and now I must visit your studio!
Thank you.
Tidy wall. Being a dry stone waller myself (from the U.K) i was interested to know if 10 meters a week is a standard speed for three people to build at including having to move the stone?
Hi
I’m interested in finding out about the history of the Taratahi Stone walls/fences
Do know anything or anyone with any info.
Cheers Murray